A TIME TO SHARE

Restaurant owner, minister, volunteers come together to hand out lunches

Plenty of children in Painesville ended the day on June 26 with full stomachs thanks to Brian Jones and other volunteers

Jones, working with Cross Outreach Ministries in partnership with the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, was out in the afternoon to hand out free lunches to area kids.

The philanthropy is familiar to the minister. He has worked with Harvey High School in the past to provide meals for school children in need.

“We discovered children were getting breakfast and lunch from the schools but no dinners,” Jones said during the event.

He considered ways to help during summer months when children would be away from school and be at an even greater disadvantage. Jones contacted the Cleveland Food Bank and learned of the Kid’s Café program whose purpose is to supply children with meals.

The United States Department of Agriculture has suspended the program for reasons related to novel coronavirus, according to Jones.

This led to him taking matters into his own hands.

Located outside of Jackie’s Sports Bar, 569 S. State St., he worked with the business’ owner, Rich Harless, to not only use refrigeration units and sponsor meals for athletes program, but also host the free lunch giveaway in the front of his restaurant.

“Rich really has a passion to feed kids as a business owner in Painesville,” Jones commented.

“Last year I saw what (Brian Jones) was doing in feeding the student athletes and reached out to him to see if he needed any help,” Harless said during the event.

“It’s something I wanted to be a part of.”

The event held in front of Jackie’s was the first for the business owner, but he said he is “absolutely” looking forward to hosting similar events in the future.

Also on hand for the event were members of the Painesville Police Department, including Chief Daniel Waterman. Former Lake County assistant and special prosecutor Jason Wuliger, who is running for Lake County commissioner this year, was also in attendance helping to distribute food along with his wife and daughter.

“(Jones) asked me if I could come out and help and I was more than happy to because there’s more than few people around the county that are suffering, trying to make ends meet, put food on the table,” Wuliger said.

“When he asked me to help him with the food distribution for the free lunches here in Painesville it was a no-brainer. I knew I needed to be there.

The event began with 100 lunches to hand out but also expanded to include a hotdog cookout as well.

In addition to food, brochures for the Depression Bipolar Support Alliance of Northeast Ohio were also distributed and 100 Youth That Care teamed up with the event to provide hygiene kits.

“All of this is because of people who are passionate about serving others and pooling our resources to make it happen,” Jones added.

ADAM DODD — THE NEWS-HERALD The sun was shining as free lunches were handed out in Painesville in front of Jackie’s Sports Bar.